A Little Hope?
Well, Tater Tot’s appetite is back. It’s nice that she’s eating something other than applesauce. Makes a mommy worry a little less. It has been hard to relate to the struggles of Mommies with toddlers who are picky eaters because Tater Tot generally eats most of what’s put in front of her at any given time. But I got a small glimpse into your world, Ladies, and it was not pretty. I understand the worry that your child is not getting adequate nutrition now because, really, how much of your daily RDA can you get from applesauce and juice? Or just cheese? Or whatever the food du jour is for your picky eater…
She seems to be doing better on several fronts, as I have not had to get up with her because she is hacking and coughing for the past two nights and she doesn’t seem to have a fever anymore, either. Although with my crappy ear thermometer, who knows? I didn’t think she had one when I took her to the doctor on Tuesday, either but guess what? She did. We go back to the doc this morning so, hopefully he’ll tell us her ears look better and her lungs sound better. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll get to remove the baby monitor from our bedroom and have a sound nights’ sleep sometime soon. Free from undue worry. And being woken up by congestion-induced snoring or coughing. That would be nice. But, what can ‘ya do? Such is a Mommy’s Life.
On a totally unrelated note, although I am feeling a bit better energy-wise, I’ve decided that I’m going to ask my doctor to increase my thyroid medication until my TSH is between 1 and 2. It was above 2 this last time around and she’s not likely to do this for me but you never know until you ask. I can’t help but think that some of this not being able to sleep may have something to do with my thyroid. It’s worth a shot. If you’re asking “What the heck is she talking about?” let me tell you some background. I have been diagnosed with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis since I was 16 years old and I am now 39. My body recognizes my thyroid as a foreign body, not as the wonderful, useful gland that it should recognize it as. As a result, my body is trying to destroy my thyroid gland (and probably already has). The end result for me is that my thyroid gland does not function as it should, under-producing the all-important hormone needed to regulate my metabolism, energy-level, etc. (for more info go here or here). So I take synthetic thyroid hormone. And most of the time I still feel crappy. Not as bad as some people do, but bad enough to hate my life sometimes. The times when I feel like I need a nap by 10am or feel like laying on the couch instead of playing with my beautiful daughter or when I am utterly exhausted yet have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. And when I’m exhausted I feel like I need to eat continuously all day long in the vain hope that it will give me enough energy which results in weight gain and/or not being able to lose that last 10 pounds of “baby weight” that really should now be called “toddler weight” since my Princess is two! Or the times when every piece of clothing that I put on makes me feel like a 10 pound sausage in a 5 pound casing…
If you’re saying to yourself “Yeah, but I feel that way sometimes, too and I don’t have a thyroid condition. It’s just being anxious or depressed about emotional stuff.” or something like that, I’ve thought of that, too. Life’s messy and there are lots of things to worry about, do, and generally let invade your otherwise peaceful mindset. I know that. I also know that I deal with life’s messiness relatively well when I feel good. Yes, it’s well-established that I am a worrier but, at the end of the day, I know that everything will work out and I find my peace within a situation. This is different. This is an irritability and moodiness that is not usually there. This is an exhaustion that is worse than lack of sleep and worry combined. This is a physical depletion that just feels different than one caused by emotional issues or feelings. For example, I am generally a happy shopper at large super-discount stores that shall remain nameless (hint: there’s one on just about every street corner here in Cali and the name ends in “Mart”). I go when there is plenty of time to shop and we have no pressing time constraints. Tater Tot likes to help me push the cart. It’s even easier when I go by myself so it’s generally a pleasant shopping experience for me. The other day I thought I was going to end up on Jerry Springer because I felt so much like running over several of the clientele of said establishment who would have then roundly kicked my ass, trailer-park style. This is not me. I do not generally feel like going all kung-fu on people’s asses whilst shopping. Add to that the need for a nap at 10am and voila! You have a generally low-thyroid-feeling situation. This has been going on for a month. So I asked for my thyroid levels to be tested and was very surprised that they were within the normal range. The last time I felt this bad, they were out of the normal range and my medication was increased.
So, I will ask my doctor. In the mean time, I am reading Fat, Fuzzy, or Frazzled
Anywhooo…thanks for reading my long, rambling, fairly self-centered post today! Now it’s time to get on with the day. Time for Tater Tot to get up and then we get to go back to the doctor’s. Hopefully he’ll have some good news for us! Have a fantastic day!
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.